Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 1,400 Shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 23,300 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,400 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $1,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bernzott Capital Advisors increased its holdings in Lamb Weston by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors now owns 101,605 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,790,000 after buying an additional 3,460 shares during the period. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC bought a new position in Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Lamb Weston by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,901 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $595,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,414 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 143.0% in the 4th quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,220 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,895 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert A. Niblock purchased 3,000 shares of Lamb Weston stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $60.94 per share, for a total transaction of $182,820.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 26,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,609,181.64. This trade represents a 12.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charles A. Blixt purchased 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $63.25 per share, with a total value of $75,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 22,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,453,611.50. This represents a 5.51 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on LW. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Lamb Weston in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $87.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lamb Weston currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

Shares of LW opened at $60.14 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $71.29 and a 200-day moving average of $69.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $8.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.73. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.99 and a 1 year high of $110.61.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.01 by ($0.35). Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.82% and a net margin of 5.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. This is a boost from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is 56.92%.

Lamb Weston Profile

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc produces, distributes, and markets frozen potato products worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Global, Foodservice, Retail, and Other. It offers frozen potatoes, commercial ingredients, and appetizers under the Lamb Weston brand, as well as under various customer labels.